No wonder it is the Beginning of Wisdom!

Read: Proverbs 1:7; Exodus 1:8-21; Jeremiah 5:20-25; Luke 23:39-43

What does it look like when it is walked out in our everyday lives? That question could be asked when pondering many things. For example, patience. What does it look like on a Monday morning or a Tuesday night? Waiting for a child to "move a little faster" or waiting for someone to finish a thought before chiming in? Yes, even in these little examples patience can show its beauty through gentleness or impatience can rule the moment resulting in harsh words or a non-listening ear. Or what about forgiveness. How does it show its beauty in the little incidents of life? We can see the lack of this precious commodity when past mistakes are resurrected and dusted off to make a point. It is often present, whether anyone knows it or not when we allow the Lord to bridle our tongues. Yes, patience and forgiveness are beautiful when they are growing and flourishing in our lives, and they are often visible or absent in our everyday interactions, but what about another quality that God highly prizes? The fear of the Lord?

Proverbs 1:7 says that it is the beginning of wisdom. Think of it. Is it any wonder that the world often seems so out of kilter. There is frequently so little known about the Living God. Resulting in lives lived with no reverence for Him and His ways. And yes, we too can wander away when we begin to copy the world's ways instead of God's, Romans 12:2. Reverencing the Lord is the center peg off of which so many other qualities hand. With that in mind, let's look at some examples from the scriptures. What does a life look like when someone fears the Lord? What does it look like when there is no fear of God? Let's take a look.

In Exodus 1:8-21, we meet two ladies who walked in the fear of the Lord. Let's remember all that was going on in Egypt during their lives. When Genesis ended and Exodus began, God's people were subject to their Egyptian taskmasters. The authorities who revered Joseph and his generation were dead, and the Pharaoh no longer remembered all that Joseph had done for the Egyptian people. In fact, God's people were oppressed and treated badly at this time because the Egyptians feared that they would grow powerful enough to rise up against them; so, a wicked plan was hatched by those who did not fear the Lord. The midwives, rather than bringing precious babies into the world were commanded to murder the baby boys. Enter Shiphrah and Puah. The midwives whom the scriptures say feared God, and because of that, they disobeyed the wicked command they were given. Their reverence for God trumped the command of the Pharaoh. Some people say that they shouldn't have lied and said that the women gave birth prior to their arrival. We don't know if their words expressed what truly happened or not, but we know something even more certain. God honored and gifted them because they feared Him, and what is better than knowing that God was honored by their actions. We too are told to discover what pleases God, Ephesians 5:8-10 and walk as children of light. Rather than according to the prevailing darkness that often points in a direction far from God's ways. Ways that when followed do not point to what it looks like to fear God.

In Jeremiah 5:20-25, we fast forward to the time when God's people were living in the land that God had promised them back in Genesis 15. Sadly, for the most part God's people had forgotten what fearing Him looked like. They had copied the ways of their neighbors who didn't honor or know the Lord. If that weren't enough, Jeremiah had to confront them with a forgetfulness that should have been shocking. They had forgotten a foundational truth about God. One that children can understand. That is that He is Creator and Sustainer. Almighty God Who sets the boundaries for the waves. The One Who brings the rain so that the crops would grow. How was it that they whom God called senseless and foolish would forget the awesome power that the Living God had!

The fact that they were not reverencing Him had shown itself by their sinful ways and their idolatry, and their disobedience had resulted in God's chastisement.

Our world also often displays a blatant disregard for God Who is Creator and Sustainer. Sadly, many do not know that Jesus Whom we celebrate as Risen Lord on Easter is also the world's Creator and the One Who holds everything together, Colossians 1:15-17. The One we should honor because He is worthy.

In Luke 23:39-43, we meet two men whose lives took two very different roads because one ultimately feared Jesus the Lord and one did not. Talk about a contrast. Talk about a turn around that changed everything. At first, these two unnamed men looked very similar. Their anger and bitterness was evident by their angry words that they hurled out at Jesus. However, as the hours progressed, something happened that changed the eternal destiny for one of them. He began to see truths about Jesus that He hadn't known before.

In Luke 23:40, he asks the other man on the cross if he didn't fear God. He had discovered some very precious truths that had changed his perspective.

1. Jesus was innocent of wrong doing.

2. Both he and the other criminal were guilty and getting punishment that they deserved.

3. Jesus was a King.

4. Jesus therefore had a kingdom to which He would be going.

5. He wanted entrance to that kingdom. Entrance that only Jesus could give.

In short, he feared God and reached out for what He alone could give. How sad for the other man. He left this world an unchanged man. One who didn't fear the Lord. There are only two paths. The fear of God that says I will come to Him in the way He has proscribed and the path that says I will approach God according to the path of my own choosing. The path where there is no true fear of God.

Jesus came that we might have abundant life, John 10:10. He is the Way.

The Only Way to that life that is based on the fear of the Lord, Acts 4:12.